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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24885127">Summonings Aren't For Children</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooMuchTimeinSpace/pseuds/TooMuchTimeinSpace'>TooMuchTimeinSpace</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Days Gone By [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ghost (Sweden Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Kid Fic, Made up first names, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Rituals</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 00:40:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,102</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24885127</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooMuchTimeinSpace/pseuds/TooMuchTimeinSpace</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The summoning of ghouls is a ritual reserved for members of the higher clergy, but rules were made to be broken, and a young Papa III is determined to summon his own ghoul.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Days Gone By [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790605</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Summonings Aren't For Children</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a quiet day at the church, maybe even a little too quiet. Or at least it seemed that way to Niccolo Copia, who attributed the unnatural silence to the rare occasion of being able to read a book without interruption, even though Valentino sat beside him. While Niccolo typically enjoyed silence, it was a little disconcerting when it came in the presence of his usually very talkative friend, especially in a situation where he was not expected to be quiet. Because, usually, the older boy was an almost constant source of conversation, that Niccolo had gotten very good at relegating to the background when necessary – though it had become a bit of a comfort over the years, not that he’d ever admit to it, of course. Now, though, Valentino was merely sitting quietly as he stared out into the garden, swinging his legs as he sat on the bench.</p><p>“So uh,” Niccolo awkwardly broke the silence when he could no longer bear it, “what are you thinking about?”</p><p>“Hmm? Oh, you know how the higher clergy members will summon ghouls for specific tasks around the church, yes? And none of those ghouls will listen to me since I’m just a kid, so I was thinking that if I summoned my own ghoul then they’d have to listen to me! Which would mean that I’d have someone who could do my chores for me.” </p><p>Niccolo stared at his friend for a long moment, almost regretting having ever asked. “Tino, you’re an Emeritus, and going to be papa someday, you barely have chores to do.”</p><p>“I still have to clean my room.” Valentino defended and Niccolo just sighed. “Besides it’ll be great practice for my future duties as papa, and you always tell me I should study up on those more. Honestly, it makes you sound like my father.” He said the last part in a purposefully haughty fashion that he knew annoyed Niccolo, and, of course, the younger took the bait.</p><p>“I tell you to study the rituals, not to try them! Do you know how dangerous it is to summon a ghoul?”</p><p>“Do you?” Valentino countered, and couldn’t help his smug expression as Niccolo snapped his mouth shut, unable to answer, and glared down at the book in his lap.</p><p>“No.” Came the quiet response a moment later.</p><p>“Exactly! There’s no need to worry. This is an amazing idea, you’ll see.” Valentino said, nodding to himself with conviction. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go speak to my brother.”  </p><p>“Good luck with that.” Niccolo huffed as he opened his book to return to his reading, and Valentino slipped off the bench to go inside.</p><p>He made his way through the large, stone hallways of the abbey, and went up multiple flights of stairs until he reached the large wooden door with the silver plaque that read “Father Emeritus I.” He knocked on the door and waited for his brother to tell him to enter – he’d gotten in enough trouble over the years for just walking in when he wanted, and Emilio happened to be in important meetings. It took another try at knocking before he heard a “come in” and he pushed open the heavy doors that were certainly not designed for children to use.</p><p>Emilio was sitting at the desk with a large stack of paperwork but paused as his brother walked in. “Oh, Tino. I am happy to see you but weren’t you going to play with Niccolo today?”</p><p>“I was,” the young boy answered as he walked around his brother’s desk and leaned against the arm of the office chair he sat in, “but I had an idea and wanted to talk to you.”</p><p>Emilio sighed as he put down his pen. Valentino announcing he had an idea while looking up at him with a purposefully wide-eyed innocent look was never good. “And what exactly is this idea?”</p><p>“I want to summon my own ghoul,” Valentino said, smiling wide, and trying to use all the adorable charm an eight-year-old possessed</p><p>Luckily, Emilio had raised the boy and was completely immune to any such attempts to wield his cuteness. “Absolutely not. Only the higher clergy members may summon them, and unless you have somehow been promoted in the few hours since I last saw you, I am sure you are not of that rank.”</p><p>“I can’t even do it as a future Papa?”</p><p>“No. I wasn’t allowed to try until I became a priest, so you and Giovanni will both wait until you reach that rank as well, and that’s final Valentino.” He ended sternly, hoping his youngest brother would understand and drop the subject.</p><p>“Fiiiiinnne.” The boy sighed dramatically, flopping over the arm of the chair. Emilio rolled his eyes at the other’s actions but smiled fondly as he nudged the boy.</p><p>“Why don’t you go back to playing with Niccolo,” he suggested, “I do need to get back to work.”</p><p>“Yeah, okay.” Valentino agreed as he eyed the pile of paperwork in disdain, scrunching his nose as he did so.</p><p>“Good, now I will see you tonight fratellino, stay out of trouble.”</p><p>“Of course, when do <em>I </em>ever get into trouble.” He responded as he left the room. He heard the half exasperated, half-amused huff of his eldest brother as he shut the door and smirked to himself as he walked away.</p><p>But now what? If Emilio had said no, then Father surely would as well – not that he wanted to try asking him at all. Maybe he could talk a higher clergy member into telling him the ritual needed to summon a ghoul? Though none of them would probably help him either since they’d be too afraid of what Emilio or Father would say if they discovered they’d helped him.</p><p>He wandered onto a lower floor of the abbey and briefly considered returning to the gardens as he was certain Niccolo was still there reading, but he noticed Giovanni leaving a room further down the hall. His older brother noticed him as well, and walked towards him, the two meeting in the middle.</p><p>“What are you up to, tiny?”</p><p>“Who said I’m up to anything? Not that it’s really any of your business anyway.” The younger snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. Indignant at the nickname.</p><p>“Well, that’s certainly suspicious. Besides the only time you ever come to this wing of the abbey is when visiting Emilio’s office, which implies that you are, in fact, up to something. Plus, you’ve got that look on your face that means he told you no, but you’re about to do it anyway.” At the younger’s surprised look at his reasoning, Giovanni just shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve helped raise you little brother, and you’re not exactly subtle, we can read you like an open book. Now, what is it that you went to Emilio’s office for?”  </p><p>“…. I just told him that I wanted to summon my own ghoul.”</p><p>The older whistled. “Really? And why exactly do you want your own?”</p><p>“To have someone do my chores for me,” Valentino admitted and was slightly startled as his brother started laughing loudly, and uncontrollably. Typically, Giovanni was not one to laugh often, and when he did, it was generally quiet and hidden behind his hand.</p><p>It took a moment for Giovanni to calm himself again, but he was still smiling even as he spoke. “I suppose this may be why the church doesn’t allow eight-year-olds to summon ghouls, yes?”</p><p>“But it isn’t fair. I don’t want to wait until I’m a priest. I’ll be so <em>old</em> then and will have had to clean my room a bunch of times.” The younger pouted.</p><p>“Well not to fear, Tino, I shall help you with this.”</p><p>“You will? But why?” He asked, suddenly suspicious.</p><p>“Breaking the long-held rules of the church and helping my little brother get out of his chores, I see no better reasons to help. Besides if I help you, then the ghoul will also have to listen to me, and maybe I don’t want to do my chores either.”</p><p>Valentino nodded his head, accepting his brother’s reasons for helping. “Then what are we going to do? We need to know the ritual for it and Emilio already said no.”</p><p>“While Emilio or any of the higher clergy would certainly know the ritual, they likely do not have the actual texts. Those would be with Father or maybe even Sister Imperator, and if not with them then it must be contained somewhere in the library.” Giovanni explained. “So, I think it’d be best if you went to ask Father and Imperator because you’re young and cute so they’ll probably be less likely to punish you for seeking out those rituals. I will go look in the library since they will certainly allow me to look through the texts meant for the higher clergy as I am much closer to being ordained than you.” He noticed the look the younger was giving him and knew it was related to being given the task of bothering Sister in her office. “I know, I know, you’ll figure it out though.”</p><p>“Yes, alright.” Valentino sighed. “I’ll go talk to them now.”</p><p>“Good. Come find me in the library once you’re done. You will undoubtedly finish before me.” So, with the plan agreed upon the two brothers went their separate ways to accomplish their tasks.</p><p>Valentino decided it would be best to speak to his father first, as surely the dark pope would have important ritual texts, like ghoul summoning, stored in his office. Also, with any luck, they would be with his father and he could avoid bothering Sister at all since she was much scarier.</p><p> So, he went back the way he came to reach his father’s office since it was in the same direction as Emilio’s, but there were several floors between them as Emilio’s office was located on the same floor as the rest of the priests. While their father’s office was located on the highest level that only contained the offices of the papas, and sometimes even a few very experienced cardinals. The floors that came between those levels were for the offices of the bishops and the majority of cardinals.</p><p>Someday, Emilio’s office would be on the highest level as well, and so would Giovanni’s and even his own. Though Valentino was already starting to dread the fact that he was going to have to climb up all those stairs every day. Maybe they could install an elevator instead?</p><p> While musing over the possible installation of an elevator, Valentino finally reached the top of the staircase. He then walked down the long hallway to the office at the end of it, coming to stand before the large, imposing wooden doors that were the most innate of any office. A golden plaque read “Papa Emeritus Nihil.” He knocked on the door and was soon permitted to enter. He was mildly displeased that these doors were even heavier than the ones to Emilio’s office.</p><p> Upon entering the office, he couldn’t help but study the room and compare it to his brother’s much more familiar one: Emilio’s office was much smaller, cluttered with paperwork and ancient texts, and even had plants scattered around. In contrast, his father’s office seemed quite barren of such things. Though interestingly a saxophone sat in the corner of the room on its stand.</p><p>His father’s office was also a lot bigger, and it took the young boy several moments to make his way across the vast room to stand before his father’s desk, who was tapping away at his typewriter and humming to himself.</p><p>“Is there something you needed, my son?” He asked, pausing his work for a moment.</p><p>“Yes, I was wondering if you had the texts required to summon a ghoul,” Valentino explained, deciding that being quick to the point would probably be best for the moment.</p><p>“Hmmm. No, I don’t think I do. They would most likely be with Sister Imperator.” Nihil answered after a moment of thought. “In fact, if I ever had them, Sister certainly took them as she would claim I’d lose them. But why do you need them?”</p><p>“I was sent by Primo to see if you had them,” he quickly lied, “but if you don’t then they must be with Sister as you said. I will go ask her about them now, I am sorry to bother you, father.”</p><p> “Oh, it’s alright,” Nihil responded with a dismissive wave. He returned to his typing as Valentino quickly left the room.</p><p>His heart sunk a bit that his plan to avoid bothering Sister backfired, but now it was time to enlist the help of his secret weapon, Niccolo. Luckily, when he made it back to the gardens, he found his friend on the same bench he had left him, still reading.</p><p>Niccolo looked up from his book as Valentino approached; he had assumed the older boy would eventually return. “Let me guess, your brother said no.”</p><p>“He did,” Valentino confirmed as he sat on the bench to Niccolo’s right as he had earlier.</p><p>“But you are going to summon one anyway.” Niccolo shut his book and turned to look fully at his friend. “What exactly is your plan now?”</p><p>“Well, I’m glad you asked,” Valentino said with a grin. “Since Emilio won’t help me, the next best thing will be to have the ritual texts, and I have already confirmed that my Father does not have them. So, the last two places I could find it would be in the library or with Sister Imperator. That’s where you come in, I need you to go ask her if she has it.”</p><p>“And you can’t just ask her yourself?”</p><p>“Of course not, she would instantly know that I plan on attempting the ritual and then I’d just get in trouble. Besides you’re her favorite, she’ll give it to you.”</p><p>Niccolo was quiet for a moment and though he rolled his eyes, Valentino could tell by the small smile his friend was trying to hide that he had successfully talked him into helping. “Fine. I will talk to her for you, but if this all works out and you get a ghoul, then as payment, I want it to do my chores too sometimes.”</p><p>“Yes, of course, that is fair.” Valentino agreed excitedly, as he hopped off the bench and practically dragged Niccolo with him. “Now let’s go!”</p><p>The two boys made their way inside the abbey and to Sister’s office, which was thankfully a much shorter walk, and only required one flight of stairs as her office was on the floor below the priests. It was the furthest into the wing, however.</p><p>Once they got close, Niccolo handed the book he was holding to Valentino and told him to wait around the corner before going to knock on her office door. From where Valentino stood in the hallway, he could hear the two greet each other and the beginning of his friend’s explanation for visiting before the conversation was cut off by the shutting of the door. He quickly grew bored waiting in the hallway, but about five minutes later Niccolo returned with a large black tome.</p><p>“Oh, mio amico! You are amazing!” Valentino exclaimed excitedly as they traded the books they carried.</p><p>“Th-thanks.” Niccolo stuttered at the praise, hugging his book tighter to his chest, but he was smiling. “Sister said the ghoul summoning ritual is towards the end of the book. Also, she wants me to return it tomorrow.”</p><p>“No problem, the ritual will be done tonight,” Valentino assured, “and by tomorrow we shall have a ghoul to do chores for us!” He laughed a little, barely able to contain his excitement, before continuing. “I need to go find Giovanni now, but I’ll find you tomorrow to return the book and tell you how it goes. Thank you again.” The last part was said in a rush before Valentino was hurrying off towards the library, leaving Niccolo in the hall.</p><p>He practically ran through the halls, hugging the book to his chest so that hopefully no one would notice the ritual book he definitely shouldn’t have possession of, and soon made it to the library. He slipped inside quietly; sneaking between the shelves to the section meant for the higher clergy where Giovanni was looking through the texts as he said he would. Valentino didn’t say anything as he went to stand beside his older brother, merely held up the ritual book in triumph, and Giovani grinned while quickly returning the book he’d been leafing through to its place on the shelf. They left the library to go to their apartment to look over the ritual.</p><p>----</p><p>It was close to two in the morning when Valentino was woken by Giovanni. “Come on fratellino, we have to go now if we’re going to be ready in time.” He whispered as he gently shook the younger’s shoulder. Valentino yawned as he got out of bed, but he was almost instantly awake with excitement.</p><p>The two snuck out of their apartment, careful not to wake Emilio, and made their way through the halls of the abbey. Luckily at this late hour, there was hardly anyone up at all, and they just needed to avoid some ghouls now and then.</p><p>Soon they had reached the gardens without incident and were free to head into the forest that sprawled to the north of the abbey where they would find the specific clearing described in the ritual text. Said clearing had been used for ghoul summoning rituals for centuries as it was located on a ley line and thus was steeped in magical properties, which were only increased during the Witching Hour, causing the air itself to seem charged with Black Magic. So, a large pentagram of stone had been set in the middle of the clearing, and a stone was set at each cardinal point outside of the pentagram. A circle has been scorched into the earth of the clearing as well.</p><p>The two found the clearing after about thirty minutes of walking and stood at the edge to admire it for a moment before getting to business.</p><p>Giovanni handed the flashlight over to Valentino, who held it up so that the elder could see as he started digging around the backpack they had brought along that contained the necessary supplies for the ritual. All of which they had managed to sneak out of the sacristy earlier that night.</p><p> He handed Valentino his black cassock and white surplice before pulling out his own to put on. The text didn’t specify any rules for the appearance of those participating in the ritual but they had both agreed that wearing their formal church attire was probably a given; however, the brothers had argued over the matter of face painting. Valentino had wanted to do full skull paint like their father and brother, while Giovanni argued that they should just do the dark eye circles that were common among the higher clergy since those were the ranks allowed to summon ghouls, and it would save them time. Giovanni finally won the argument by saying that they weren’t allowed full skull paint yet, so putting it on might offend the ghouls which would mean they couldn’t summon one, and of course Valentino couldn’t have that.</p><p>So, once their vestments were put on, they helped each other apply the makeup around their eyes. Valentino then wanted to paint his upper lip as well since he couldn’t do full skull paint, which Giovanni rolled his eyes at, but he didn’t want to restart the argument, so he helped his little brother do so.  With their clothing and makeup done, they began to set up the ritual itself.</p><p>Valentino took some matches and four candles from the backpack, as the text instructed that two black candles should be placed on the stones to the north and south of the pentagram, while two red ones were placed to the east and west.</p><p>While Valentino set up these four candles, Giovanni took the remaining five and began placing them along the points of the pentagram. Each candle was a different color and had an elemental symbol carved into it: the silver candle with the aether symbol was placed on the top point of the pentagram, the blue candle with the water symbol was placed to the top right, the white candle with an air symbol was placed on the bottom right point, the brown candle with the earth symbol was placed at the bottom left, and finally the red-orange candle with the fire symbol was placed at the top left.</p><p>They lit the candles as they placed them and soon the clearing was filled with the soft glow of candlelight.</p><p>The two then went to stand near the center of the pentagram with the rest of their supplies: an unused ghoul mask, a sacrificial dagger, and the ritual book itself.</p><p>The ghoul mask was carefully placed on the ground in the exact middle of the pentagram by Valentino, while Giovanni checked the time. At only a minute until three in the morning, and the beginning of the witching hour, he unsheathed the dagger.</p><p>Valentino held out his hand to him without a word, and Giovanni took it gently. “Are you ready?” He asked quietly.</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Good. I promise I won’t cut too deep.” He assured before cutting a thin line into the younger’s palm which soon began to bleed. Valentino winced but otherwise didn’t move.</p><p>Giovanni quickly slashed his own palm with the dagger and the two smeared their blood on the forehead of the ghoul mask. Then at exactly three a.m., they began the chant contained in the ritual text:</p><p>“O Unum Vetus,</p><p>Nos cantare laudem tuam commune dixeris</p><p>Et respondendum interrogabo vos vocationem nostram</p><p>Ad infernale servum providere</p><p>Quam alligavit sanguinis auctor”</p><p>Throughout the chant, the glow of the candles had grown brighter, and at the last word, fire erupted from the circle around them. It startled the two, both jumping slightly, and Valentino gasped in surprise, pushing closer to his brother’s side. </p><p>The ghoul mask before them looked like it was shaking, and tendrils of black mist rose from the ground to coil around it. The fire had yet to die down, but Giovanni began backing up, pulling the younger with him, as he thought it best to give the new ghoul some room.</p><p>Said ghoul almost seemed to be clawing its way from below the ground, the mist forming its body from the head down, as it dragged itself up. Once its body was fully formed, the ghoul stood up, its gaze locked on them. The fire reflected in its eyes, and though they couldn’t see its face because of the mask, they were sure its fangs were bared as it lashed its tail and brandished its sharp claws at them.  </p><p>“We have to tame it now, don’t we?” Valentino practically squeaked as they looked at their summoned ghoul. He hadn’t expected the ghoul to appear so angry.</p><p>“Yes. But it will be fine. It is not a very big ghoul, much shorter than me.” Giovanni responded, trying to play down the potential danger so his brother’s worries didn’t become worse. And though he hadn’t been lying about the ghoul’s below-average stature, ghouls were unnaturally strong, and being small wouldn’t change that. At least the fire had gone out so they could run if needed.</p><p>“But it’s still a lot taller than me,” Valentino whispered.</p><p>“Yes, well, hopefully, it won’t go after you.” And soon after saying so, the ghoul lunged at them.</p><p>Neither was sure what to do, as the ritual said nothing on how to tame the ghoul. While they had heard it said by ghouls in the past that being summoned was disorienting, no one ever elaborated on the matter, and those of the clergy who had summoned ghouls didn’t discuss what happened. Even Emilio didn’t discuss it, but he hadn’t seemed worse for wear after doing so. Though that could either be attributed to having cleaned up before his younger brothers woke up and saw the aftermath or they had done something horribly wrong. </p><p>Giovanni hoped it was the former and that he would be able to protect himself and his brother until the ghoul was able to calm itself. However long that would take.</p><p>So, as the ghoul lunged for them, Giovanni quickly took a step back and tugged Valentino back with him but was a little too forceful as the younger’s feet left the ground and he stumbled to right himself. Not that Valentino had much time to do so before Giovanni was tugging him out of the way again as the ghoul continued to come after them.</p><p>“What are we going to do?” The younger asked desperately.</p><p>“Well, I think you should run back to the abbey. You’ll be safer there, and then I can focus on calming the ghoul without worrying about you.”</p><p>“No way! I’m not leaving you here! This whole thing was my idea and it’s my ghoul too!”</p><p>“We can’t argue about this right now!” The older snapped, but he could already tell his brother wouldn’t listen to him in the slightest.</p><p>Unfortunately, the ghoul seemed no closer to calming down and had managed to close the distance between it and the two brothers. During its next attempted attack, it managed to catch Valentino on the chin with the back of its hand, the strength of the blow knocking the kid’s head back and sending him tumbling across the ground where the previously burning fire had left a ring of soot that dirtied his surplice. He laid there stunned.</p><p>Giovanni, now furious, managed to tackle the ghoul, the two rolling across the ground as they fought. At some point, the ghoul managed to graze his cheek with its claws, and he could feel the sting of it as blood welled up. Eventually, the ghoul managed to pin him, and though he was taller, the ghoul was stronger. It bared its fangs at him, and he bared his teeth right back.</p><p>Suddenly an angered yet frightened scream of “Stop!” came and a candle bounced off the ghoul’s head after a well-aimed throw. “I command you to stop!” Valentino continued to scream, and the ghoul seemed stunned which allowed Giovanni to push it off. Once he was up, he ran over to his brother and lifted him into his arms. The younger held another candle tightly like he was going to throw it again, but the ghoul didn’t move.</p><p>The three remained absolutely still for a long moment before the ghoul let out a small “ow.” It turned to look at them and gasped. “Oh no. I am so sorry.” It rushed to say as it quickly came towards them. Giovanni stiffened but the ghoul just kneeled in front of them. Its tail was no longer lashing behind it and its claws were no longer held up threateningly but were buried in the soft earth instead. “I didn’t – I, I’ve never been summoned before. I don’t know why I attacked you.” The ghoul said in a rush, its remorse and confusion clear in its voice.</p><p>“It is alright, it is normal for ghouls to do so when summoned,” Giovanni assured wearily.</p><p>Valentino, all fear and anger forgotten in the face of their success, began to laugh in delight and tried to get out of his brother’s hold. “Set me down Vanni,” he insisted, and with a sigh the elder did.</p><p>The young boy went to stand in front of the ghoul, who took one of the boy's much smaller hands into its larger ones. “I am sorry I struck you.”</p><p>“It’s okay. Like Giovanni said, it’s normal.” Valentino said and patted the ghoul on the head. He then looked up at his brother. “Can we go back to the abbey now?”</p><p>“Yes, we need to gather our things first though.”</p><p>“I’ll do it!” The ghoul exclaimed and quickly got up to retrieve the backpack and all the tools used in the ritual.</p><p>“I like him!” Valentino said and didn’t even protest as Giovanni picked him back up. “He’s special, I can tell.”</p><p>-----</p><p>The three entered the apartment and, unfortunately, were immediately caught by Emilio, who had woken earlier to find his brother’s missing.</p><p>The eldest looked furious but let out a startled exclamation when he saw his brothers entering with an unknown ghoul, as the three figures looked a mess. Both brothers had bleeding palms. Their white surplices were covered in dirt and soot and were even torn in a few places, in Giovanni’s case. Giovanni also had claw marks on his cheek and Valentino’s chin was bruised. The ghoul still had blood on the forehead of its mask that had long since dried.  </p><p>However, once the shock of their appearance wore off, the anger came back full force. “Valentino! You summoned a ghoul even after I explicitly told you not to!”</p><p>“Yes,” the boy answered somewhat guiltily, ducking his head, and scuffing his shoe on the floor. There was no way to hide what they had done, the evidence stood beside them.</p><p>“And you!” Emilio continued as he shifted his focus to Giovanni. “You helped him even though you are almost an adult and should certainly know better!”</p><p>“Yes,” the middle brother also answered, but with much less guilt.</p><p>Emilio shut his eyes tight and pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, frustrated sigh. “It is late, get cleaned up and go to bed. I will deal with all of this in the morning. Ghoul,” he said finally acknowledging the newly summoned being who jumped slightly, “just stay on the couch for the night, I shall deal with you in the morning as well.”</p><p>The ghoul was quick to obey, and Giovanni put Valentino down so they could return to their rooms. They whispered to each other briefly, but Emilio just sighed again as he went back to his room. As he said, he would deal with it in the morning</p><p>----</p><p>The two younger brothers ended up getting grounded and having to clean the whole apartment for three months without any help from ghouls or anyone else, as Emilio had been less than pleased with the reasoning behind summoning a ghoul in the first place. Though both Valentino and Giovanni decided that summoning their own ghoul was completely worth whatever punishment they had received.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All my Latin and Italian comes from google translate, so I hope it's not horribly butchered (though it probably is). Anyway, the translation for the ritual chant is "Oh Old One, We sing your unholy praise, And ask you answer our call, To provide an infernal servant, That we bind to our authority in blood."</p><p>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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